Workforce Wisdom

Workforce Wisdom is a podcast brought to you by The Workforce Connection Board. In every episode, Dr. Lisa M. Bly-Jones interviews leaders and professionals across the workforce, informing your path to career success. In this episode, Dr. Bly-Jones is joined by Danielle Angileri, Executive Director of the Northern Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Northern Illinois. NAMI is the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. Danielle discusses the care-giving stresses, the rising levels of domestic violence, NAMI's mission, and the affect loneliness has on one's self.

On this final episode, host Dr. Lisa Bly-Jones is joined by Workforce Wisdom's editor and producer, Amanda Sink, to close out the series. Lisa sits in the interviewee seat for a change, reflecting on her career, accomplishments at The Workforce Connection (TWC) over the past four years, discussing the impact of the pandemic on equity, and Lisa's own workforce wisdom as she closes out her chapter at TWC.   Dr. Bly-Jones has been a true change agent for equity, and has taken our organization to new heights. We are so appreciative of all her hard work and the impact she has made on our region’s workforce. We wish her all the best in her new endeavor! She will be missed!

To kick off this new season of Workforce Wisdom, Dr. Lisa Bly-Jones is speaking with career professionals in law enforcement as a series of episodes.   In this episode, Dr. Bly-Jones is speaking with Andre Taylor, a current member of the U.S. Army and future police officer. The discussion revolves around why Mr. Taylor is pursuing a career in law enforcement when his five years with the military concludes, which character attributes will transfer from the military to becoming a local police officer, and of course, Mr. Taylor shares his workforce wisdom on making a career change.

In this episode of Workforce Wisdom, Dr. Lisa Bly-Jones validates labor market information and data by actually speaking with local employers. This panel discussion will provide insight from healthcare, IT, manufacturing, retail, and non-profit about workforce trends we're seeing as we move towards economic recovery.

Workforce Wisdom is a podcast brought to you by The Workforce Connection Board. In every episode, Dr. Lisa M. Bly-Jones interviews leaders and professionals across the workforce, informing your path to career success. Can you believe the final episode of season two is already here? Don’t worry – we will be back just after Labor Day, but to close this season out, we wanted to recap the tremendous leaders I interviewed this season who embody the theme of “Stepping Up”. The past year+ has been an emotional and uniquely challenging year, from racial inequity to the new workforce trends affecting women and wages. Listen to this episode, share it with your colleagues, friends and family, and leave us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts!

In this episode, Lisa Bly-Jones, Ed.D. speaks with the Social Equity Committee of Keller Williams Realty Signature in Illinois and Wisconsin. This rock-star team making equity strides in the real estate industry consists of Toni VanderHayden, the Operating Principle for Keller Williams Realty Signature. She, alongside a fantastic board of leaders and real estate agents, have realized the founding vision of their launch in 2008 to be a real estate company where all real estate agents can learn to build wealth, so they can turn around and help the next person do the same; Nastasia 'Staci' Brown, Realtor and Chair of Social Equity Committee, Lead Buyer Specialist, and Lifetime Nomination as Cultural Ambassador of the entire Keller Williams region; Joey Krutza, who focuses on social equity training, education and development; and Bryant Chandler, who leads the mentorship aspect of this work.   Keller Williams Realty Signature is hosting a Social Equity Wine & Cheese night on Thursday, June 10 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at their Loves Park address. You are invited to a gathering of highly successful professionals to discuss a strategy to promote and ensure social equity in our local business community. Your ideas and input are welcome while we enjoy a wine tasting with Artale Wines and plentiful charcuterie boards!

In this episode, Lisa Bly-Jones, Ed.D. speaks with Sharon Bush, the Executive Director of Grand Victoria Foundation, only the second person to lead the Foundation in its 20-year industry. She has over 20 years of nonprofit and business experience. As proponents of equality and equity with experience professionally and personally, Dr. Bly-Jones and Bush heavily focus on equity in the workplace, the progress that's been made and how there is still much work to be done.  Sharon is a recognized leader in the field who strongly values the economic and social contributions of the nonprofit sector. Throughout her career she has worked to ensure that the sector is strong, equitable, sustainable and highly capable of serving individuals and families throughout the Chicago region. She has launched, led and participated in innovative collaborations that have resulted in thousands of people securing employment and millions of dollars to support the regional workforce system.

In this episode, Dr. Lisa Bly-Jones speaks with Fred DeLaRosa, General Manager of Embassy Suites Rockford, about the hospitality industry before and amid the pandemic, how Embassy Suites remains competitive with lodging options like Airbnb, and insight into his own career pathway and motivation. Fred has over 20 years of experience in the industry and with the Embassy Suites brand, serving various roles throughout his career.

In this episode, Lisa M. Bly-Jones, Ed.D. speaks with Illinois State Representative for the 68th District, Dave Vella, who was recently elected to serve after narrowly winning "in a district (he) wasn't really supposed to win", as he put it. Prior to his election, Dave earned his Law Degree at NIU and served as a Public Defender for 3 years after law school representing indigents in criminal, juvenile, and civic court. He joined the family law firm in Rockford, which he and his brother later took over as partners. Vella's grandfather, E.J. "Zeke" Giorgi served as a representative for over 30 years until his death in 1993.

In this special episode, Lisa M. Bly-Jones, Ed.D. speaks with Dick Rundall of Eliminate Racism 815, a non-profit organization in the Rockford, Illinois area devoted to eliminating racism through education, advocacy, and partnerships. Through the interview, Dr. Bly-Jones learns more about Eliminate Racism 815: their mission, their accomplishments, and how our two organizations can partner together to make change to the economic mobility in our community.

In the conclusion of our two-part series, Lisa M. Bly-Jones, Ed.D. speaks with four of The Workforce Connection’s women Board of Directors members, all of which have earned a key spot as a leader for their organization. Featuring interviews with Pamela Lopez-Fettes of Growth Dimensions, Suzanne Fisher of OSF Healthcare, Michelle Cassaro of the Chicago-Rockford International Airport, and Karen Brown of Highland Community College, these incredible and empowering women share their pieces of wisdom – in a general sense and what they would share with aspiring female leaders.

In this first of two-part series, Lisa M. Bly-Jones, Ed.D. speaks with three of The Workforce Connection's women Board of Directors members, all of which have earned a key spot as a leader for their organization. Featuring interviews with Amy Ott of Boylan Catholic High School, Vanessa Hughes of Hughes Resources, and Kathy Crandall of Crandall Stats & Sensors, these incredible and empowering women share their pieces of wisdom - in a general sense and what they would share with aspiring female leaders.

In this episode, Lisa Bly-Jones, Ed.D. speaks with Sara Dorner, President of Rockford United Labor AFL-CIO. She is the first woman President in the organization's 66 year history. In addition to being the President of Rockford United Labor AFL-CIO, Sara is a labor representative with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Prior to her now 7 years with AFSCME, she was a labor representative with the Minnesota Nurse's Association, and an organizer with the Service Employees International Union in Wisconsin. Her real union education came during her tenure as a flight attendant with United Airlines, where she became active with her union - the Association of Flight Attendants - and remained active throughout her near decade career there. Rockford, Illinois is her hometown where she now lives happily with her husband and two young children. Sara holds a Bachelor degree in English from the University of Illinois-Chicago, she was listed in the Rockford Register Star as "people to watch" in 2019, and was named as one in the Rockford Chamber's 40 leaders under 40 in 2020.

In this episode, Dr. Bly-Jones shares clips from "Building a Business Case for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" - an employer forum we hosted featuring speaker Dr. Sean Bailey. Mentioning her vision when applying for the grant for the employer forum series, Dr. Bly-Jones ties her vision with a poem from Lisa Nichols titled "The Dream Pt. 2". 

Workforce Wisdom is a podcast brought to you by The Workforce Connection Board. In every episode, Dr. Lisa M. Bly-Jones interviews leaders and professionals across the workforce, informing your path to career success. To kick off this second season, Lisa curates the most striking words of wisdom from conversations last season. While she loved all of the interviews, she selected workforce wisdom clips that resonated with her the most, and further stressed the need to show up and step as bold leaders in 2021.

In this short episode, Lisa reflects on the challenges 2020 has presented us all, what gives her hope for the next year, and a moment of giving thanks. And while we are closing out for the year, be sure to keep an eye out for our return in 2021 on February 3rd!

In this episode, Dr. Bly-Jones is speaking with Lisa Medellin. Lisa serves as Director of Programs for Healthcare Georgia Foundation and is a member of the Executive Leadership Team at the Foundation. She oversees the Foundation's strategic grant making programs, management of program staff, and programmatic partnerships for the foundation. She ensures all programs and initiatives deliver desired results for the Foundation, by focusing on implementing grant making strategies to enable, improve, and advance the health and well-being of all Georgians. Lisa is a primary liaison between the Foundation's philanthropic partners and the non-profit sector, both in Georgia and nationally. She provides thought-leadership to the Foundation on identifying new strategic funding opportunities, cultivating partnerships, and directs the allocation of the Foundation's annual distribution of $3.8 million. Since joining the foundation in 2005, Lisa has been responsible for awarding over $57 million in grants in Georgia. Lisa has successfully implemented a multitude of foundation health initiatives and programs during her tenure. She received her Master of Social Work from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, and completed her undergraduate degree from Illinois State University before leaving us and going to Georgia.

October is Manufacturing Month. In this episode of the Workforce Wisdom podcast, Dr. Bly-Jones is speaking with Andy Bittman, General Manager for IMA Automation North America, who has been with the company since 2017. Andy has been involved in product development and manufacturing tests and assembly equipment development, including class 3 medical devices, aerospace products, and industrial products for the past 25 years. He has a Business of Science and Electrical Engineering degree from Marquette University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.

In this episode, Dr. Bly-Jones is speaking with Terry Roche, President of Northern Precision Plastics, which is located in Belvidere, Illinois, approximately 30 minutes northwest of Chicago. Their two buildings have over 60,000 sq. ft. including their new state of the art printing facility and an assembly area for electronic components and custom packaging. Operation is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with three shifts. The five main processes that constitute operations are injection molding, thermoforming, CNC routing, digital printing and final assembly. Mr. Roche is an operationally focused executive who has led mid-sized industrial manufacturing companies as large as $125 million in revenue. He earned his B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering, cum laude, from Texas A&M University, and his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. During Manufacturing month, we hear from Terry about his day-to-day and what he loves about his industry.

Ms. Aranda-Suh leads the National Latino Education Institute (formerly Spanish Coalition for Jobs, Inc.) as its Executive Director since 2008. The National Latino Education Institute (NLEI) is a nonprofit and nationally accredited. The organization started in the mid-60s and incorporated in Chicago in 1972. NLEI’s mission is to advance our community’s economic independence through market and results-driven education, training, employment and advocacy.   NLEI has served generations of Latino families enabling economic empowerment through comprehensive industry-driven education, career placement and supportive services. NLEI offers a variety of high quality services designed to meet the varying needs of the adult learner and workforce. NLEI’s competitive workforce education include industries such as healthcare and energy. The services are holistic in nature as the staples include building participant capacity in financial literacy, technology and wellness